Carcass of the Saint
by In caverns dark
Summary: After the events in Twilight Princess Link is wrapped in the midst of depression, or at least that's what he thinks. The universe however doesn't think he's depressed enough, as he is sent to a place that will shatter his illusions about the Twilli.
1. Chapter 1

**Carcass of the Saint.**

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><p>"<em>In our world, we've long believed that the Hero would appear as a divine beast.<em>" _- Midna_

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><p>Link calmly walked through the eerie silence of the Sacred Grove. Stone and rubble littered the holy ancient ruins of what was once a great and grand temple. Its few remaining pillars stood tall and mighty, as they reached up into the calm blue sky side by side with the majestic trees of the forest that had reclaimed what was always theirs.<p>

The bright silver sword was held loosely in the boys hand as he slowly approached the pedestal where he had taken it from. The air became thicker and thicker in anticipation, the sword itself rejoicing, ready to fly into the pedestal itself if the boy wouldn't move quicker. He moved closer and closer, gripping the sword more and more tightly as everything around the Sacred Grove seemed to come to an immediate stop the moment Link stood directly in front of the pedestal in which the sword had made its home.

This was a time for rejoicing, a time for celebration, the demon was slain and the hero had ended the final battle triumphant. In castle town the cartels that had held the population to ransom were slaughtered by the new Malo mart. Bridges and roads that were lost to dark and mighty forces had been repaired. Beasts and monsters that tore the earth in two and bought darkness onto the land now fertilised the soil with their remains. This was the time to rebuild, to march as a collective people to a new, bright and shining future.

Yet in the age old temple something was amiss. Specifically with the young boy that had slain the demon who had caused so much strife in the land of Hyrule.

Link looked at the pedestal with grim determination and gripped the sword tightly, he lifted it up into the air and with a defiant scream he...

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><p><em>Link walked through the halls of the marble castle at a leisurely pace. <em>

"_Watch out!" a voice shouted his ear as four Lizalfos ran towards the hero. Their swords shining in the brightly lit castle, as they shrieked their battle cries._

_Three._

"_Link!" the voice shrieked once more._

_Two._

_Bang!_

"_Oh." He heard Midna mutter as all four of the beasts fell to the hero's mortal draw. Link smiled at his companion, sheathed his sword and carried on through the castle."That was dangerous!" he heard her say as the smile on his face grew even larger. It wasn't everyday that he'd get one over on his perceptive companion. Although he had gotten many more moments like this recently. The most likely reason as to why was that she had recently become more worried about him, and seemed to be a little less adventurous and wasteful with Links life than when they ad first met._

_It was an odd feeling, having Midna act as protective and as worried as she was, it wasn't a bad feeling, but it was one that made him want to hug his little shadow and rub her hair. Of course, because her hair doubled as a big red magical hand that could easily throw Link into a pool of lava on Death mountain from the tip of Snowpeak Link chose to walk on, making sure that his grin was still plastered onto his face._

_Maybe he would rub her hair, possibly if they had to camp in the castle as they had in some of the dungeons, when she'd be tired and less likely to make the effort to throw him off of a mountain. But if he had to choose between Ganons army and Midnas hair hand right now, he'd choose Ganon._

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><p><em>The thunder of hooves, the shrieks of Bulbins.<em>

_Fire, fire the wagon's on fire!_

_The flames leapt up, growing and growing. Threatening to take the young Zora boy and the girl that held onto him with all the care her heart could muster._

_Wind and rain, rain of arrows! _

_The prince and the girl shook, they cried and screamed, weak and weary. Then help, a gust of wind puts the fires at bay. _

_The action was enough to jar the Prince awake from his sleep of almost-death and in his fear all he saw and felt was the presence of the young girl. A feeling that seemed to put all of the never ending chaos at rest, if only for a moment. Before the warm dark sleep engulfed him once more._

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><p>The news spread swiftly amongst the Zora, as if it was a river and had a life of its own. The Hero had saved their Prince. It was evident now that he was the Chosen One because he was wearing the outfit woven and forged by their late and benevolent King. There were stories of how he was greeted by the spirit of the late queen. How he had freed the Goron that was stranded underwater from his stone prison, cleansed their water temple and unblocked the flow of their life giving river.<p>

Champion they named him, Champion of the Zora people. Wondering where he was at this moment.

Then when the news came of a young girl who was one of his best friends; the stories of how she had cared for the Prince in the Hylian settlement when everyone else had left him for dead. How a young girl had waited besides him, even when her memory had been lost turned her into an idol for the Zora, a symbol of kindness and hope in the dark time that they were marching through.

It dosn't take long for the gossip to move on to new, more trivial subjects.

It didn't take long before the Zora people forgot about the young hero.

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><p>"<em>Hey, why don't you try talking to the girl?" Midna asked Link as he walked into the fields east of Castle Town.<em>

"_It won't work."_

"_Hey?" she asked in a concerned tone as he just continued to walk forwards._

"_Hey!" she screamed in frustration, "Hey! Listen to me! Don't you walk away from ME Mr important hero boy!"_

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><p>The three Goron elders stood With Darabus, the tribal patriarch of his people as they told him of the dark spirits that had consumed him and his people.<p>

"Urgggh!" The large Goron groaned, holding his head in shame with one hand and pounding the earth with his other. "I shame us!" he growled, as the tribal elders waited for their Patriarch to quell his rage.

It took some time before the Patriarchs fist stopped pounding the earth and even longer before he spoke, still covering his face as if it was the mask of his shame. "How?" he asked in a tone of voice that was unusually calm for the passionate leader.

"WHO STOPPED ME!" he roared at the elders who remained calm "Who saved our people?"

"The small brother." said the voice of an elder, although Darabus still did not know which one. "The green one"

"Ha. Make him Patriarch." Darabus murmured, "He is strongest, he should be leader."

"No." The said in unison as their once proud Patriarch looked at them with confusion etched into his stone face.

"WHY NOT?"

"You are our Patriarch"

"I am not the strongest. I was... I am the weakest of our people." He said, showing his face and telling the Elders of his tribe the shame that he now felt, the shame they knew that he would feel when he found out.

"You are our Patriarch." An elder repeated.

"Where is the boy, I will bring him here myself. If you won't."

"You won't find him."

"Why not?"

"We don't know where he is. No one knows where he is."

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><p><em>Link slowly walked through the desert; glad that the sun had begun to set, and that due to the lower temperatures they were allowed movement across the desert. Now the thought of reaching the Arbiter Grounds had become a real possibility. It was an odd trip for the young boy; the sand in the desert reminded him of sand from the river's edge but golden and never ending. He wondered for a moment if the sand was made out of gold, perhaps to ask Midna and find out what her answer would be...<em>

_Or maybe not. It was a rather stupid question, and if there was anyone in the world that scared him, it was her and her hair that could turn into a huge orange arm. He recalled the first time he saw it and realised that there was no way he could beat her in an arm wrestling contest. _

_He said to himself that he wouldn't ask her the question, he enjoyed her company more than anything else but he knew that stupid questions would just serve to get her angry. Then she'd go yap yap yap yap yap._

_Then again, she had changed her attitude since they had first met; she had been silent for the vast majority of their trip through the desert. In fact Link recalled that it was only recently that she had been acting differently, in comparison to how she was when they had originally met. It was odd at first when she became silent for more than thirty minutes, but he had assumed that their meeting with Zant had something to do with that. Then when her new personality lingered Link asked himself if the brief moment of quiet was a gift from the gods, it seemed like one. _

_Although now his companions silence had become unnerving, making him feel something that he hadn't felt before on this journey, alone. In the stark silence of the desert he admitted to himself that he felt alone. Yes she did help him when he'd need his equipment, and she did come out whenever he wished to ask her something. But her tone had changed, it was was kind, caring, and all of a sudden, in the silence of the desert Link began to worry about her. He wondered if he should ask her if anything was wrong._

_The last things she had said to him were about her tribe. The Twili, banished from this world for trying to take the power of the Sacred Realm for their own desires, banished from the Light into the Twilight by the Goddesses for what they had done. He recalled that she had said it with some self loathing, in comparison to before when she regarded the Twilight with high regard. It made him wonder which one was the real Midna, the imp that had mocked and teased him before, or this new shadow that he knew in his heart wouldn't leave his side. _

_He thought of the idea of asking her, and in the silent emptiness of the rapidly cooling desert the thought seemed to consume him. 'Ask her' his mind seemed to say, 'just talk, you've done it before' the voice in his mind whispered once more, yet he didn't seem to have the strength to say anything. He had spoken before, although speaking had never been his strength, but ever since the journey had begun it just seemed to become harder. He never used to ask Midna anything, she'd talk and he'd listen, he'd always been good at listening. Should he ask if everything was alright? The young boy wondered, saddened at the thought that speaking to a friend, something which most people could do with ease, he, the hero found as difficult as climbing up the side of Snowpeak naked._

_Link was so caught up in his endless train of thought that he hadn't noticed that he had stopped walking._

"_Link?" came the familiar melodic voice of his companion as her shadowy form rose out of his shadow. "Did you stay out in the sun too long?" She asked with a concerned tone, the same tone that continued to unnerve the young boy as he shook his head to reply 'No'. "Well let's get to the mirror chamber as quickly as possible, it's our only way to get to Zant."_

"_Midna" his raspy voice suddenly whispered, causing the boy to wonder why he had opened his mouth._

"_Yeah?" she asked, positioning herself in front of Links face as he began to wonder in the depths of his mind what in the world he could ask her._

"_What do you think the sand made out of?"_

_She didn't know the answer, but as she talked about how stupid his question was, Link was oddly comforted by the knowledge that his former companion had not completely vanished._

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><p>Have you ever felt loneliness? Link did, he was back home in Ordon and he felt completely empty inside. It was loneliness, resentment, anger, and a deep deep sense of betrayal. He recalled Zelda telling him in her dammed infinite wisdom that this was not what he was supposed to be feeling.<p>

He however thought that he had every right to feel however he wanted.

She was his friend.

And it hurt. It HURT.

She was his friend and now she was gone.

She WAS his friend and now...

Gone without any warning. Giving him nothing that could have prepared him for what she did.

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><p>"<em>Link… You saw how nasty that monster was, right? The evil within the shards is more powerful than you can imagine… "<em>

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><p>Have you ever felt loneliness?<p>

Abandonment?

We all have, and it hurts.

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><p><em>"You know, we could be assembling something truly terrible here…<em> "

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><p>But imagine how it felt for Link, a boy whose world revolved around loyalty.<p>

Betrayal...

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><p><em>"It could be something that we'll ultimately have to destroy..."<em>

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><p>Betrayal felt like death.<p>

But he knew through his grief that he had to move on. He just wished that he could find out why she did what she did. He asked the gods, without malice or hatred, but with desperation as deep as the sea, "Why?"

Needless to say he received no answer, but he had to move on.

Link had returned to Ordon from the desert, and so had the rest of the children. The town was joyful and happy at the reunion after what seemed an eternity of time to the parents who were separated from their children. Everyone was so happy to be back with the ones that they had cared about and never wanted to leave each other again. It seemed adequate that Link wanted to leave and be reacquainted with the horizon he had become so familiar with, never truly having a family in Ordon, no matter how much the villagers loved him, and how much he loved them in turn.

He looked at his equipment, putting it away in places where certain inquisitive children won't be able to find the pointy and dangerous tools. His mind recited the things that he had to put away, his jars of Fairy's Tears and Special Chu Jelly, his Spinner, the Dominion Rod. Most of the things that had come in handy during his journey but were now no more than extra baggage.

"Link?" came Ilia's voice from beyond the door before she opened the door with a creak. The young lady put her head in, and upon seeing that Link wasn't in an embarrassing situation smiled at the young boy and walked in. "Hi Link" the young lady said with a smile as the young boy nodded and smiled back, holding his fishing rod and placed it besides the wall, next to a broom. "So you're unpacking?" Ilia asked as the young boy nodded, looking back to his jar of Faries tears that hung of the edge of his shelf and deciding to place the bottle of valuable liquid somewhere safer.

"Link." She asked the young boy once more with worried eyes and sat down on one of his stools, motioning for him to sit down beside her.

He looked at her with curious eyes, placing his full attention on her as she began to talk in a quiet, frightened voice, "You know we've gotten back home, right?" she asked as he nodded slowly, wondering what she was going to ask him, "and dad's happy" she continued at a faster pace, "and everybody's back together and everything. But" she said pausing, continuing when Link gave her a prompt to carry on, "Link" she whispered under her breath "I don't want to be here."

His eyes opened wide in shock. This was the last thing he had expected from the young girl who seemed more than happy going about her daily chores amongst familiar people, in a place she loved. Of course, he also realised that he could have said the same thing about himself.

She had placed her hands in front of her face and had begun to weep. "I should want to stay, but I can't" she said in between her tears. "I haven't even told daddy" she finished, slowly ending her sobs, not wanting to look at Link's reaction to what she had said. Wanting to leave, it wasn't what she would do.

Link stared at his friend in surprise, this was the last thing he had expected from her. He expected a proclamation of undying affection, or perhaps of how she wished to hear stories regarding his journey that he would rather not tell the other children. But this, leaving? Link had assumed that he was the only one with such a desire and as he looked upon Ilia he realised that he wasn't the only one affected by the invasion, that he wasn't the only one who had changed and was lost, trying his hardest to find his new place in life.

One look at her fragile form told him that she was determined to leave but needed to tell someone. She wouldn't tell her dad, as kind and caring as he was Link knew that the mayor had a tendency to worry for Ilia as if she was always a baby. Link had the advantage of knowing about the dangers of the outside world in ways she didn't, and had the advantage over Rusl of being around the same age as she was.

"Link?" she asked, breaking the young boy out of his thoughts.

He realised that she wanted him to say something, help her to get out of the storm of emotions that she had lost herslef in. "Where will you go?" he asked her, amused by the confused expression that manifested itself on her face.

"Maybe Karakio, or to see the Zora, Just to see how Ralis is doing?" she told the adventurer unsurely.

It all made perfect sense. In an odd, mixed race fairy tale sort of way. Ilia had always been a caring soul. An arrogant, pampered, self righteous soul, but a caring one nonetheless. It seemed to make sense that when she had found the young Zora, ill and abandoned her motherly instincts taken control whilst her memory had abandoned her. Include that to the knowledge that she couldn't be motherly to the battled hardened boy, the children who had faced their own ordeals, or her father who forced a reversal of roles with his assertive daughter, she had to find someone to care for.

But still, a question bothered Link as he asked the young girl, "why?" in his quiet and curious voice.

"Why, what?" she replied in a confused manner as Link sighed at having to find a way of explaining his thoughts in a small amount of words.

"Why leave?" he asked, hoping that he would get a proper reply this time.

She sat down for a half a minute, her face held in her hand as she wondered why exactly she wanted to leave. In the end she just said, "Because I want to." As Link wondered if in between losing her memory, and attempting to remember directions to desolate half abandoned villages, this girl would ever give him a simple and straight answer. He knew she never would.

"But Link." She continued, "I think I might need some help."

"Hmm?" Link murmured, raising an eyebrow as if asking Ilia what sort of help she would want from him.

She fidgeted for a moment, before asking Link with her eyes averted to the floor. "Well, I wanted to ask you if I might, get something to help me. Like a sword to protect-"

Link coughed in surprise, with his eyes wide open. A sword!

"What!"

He asked himself if she even knew what she was supposed to do with the pointy end.

"Well, will you help?" she asked with irritation in her voice, clearly understanding the thoughts that were going through the boys head. "Well?"

Link paused for a moment but walked over towards his table and picked up his Ordon sword. He walked back to Ilia and looked deep into her eyes before pointing to the handle and telling her in a stern tone, "You're supposed to hold this bit."

"LINK!" she screeched, grabbing the hilt roughly out of Links hand. "Now look here mister. I know how to use your pointy stick!" she waved said pointy stick violently in front of the boy with the intention of showing him that she meant business. All that it did was make Link hope his nose was still attached by the end of the day should she carry around like this.

"Now listen to me Link, I need your help, ok!" Ilia said firmly. "So no more of your not so funny jokes. Got that?" She roared shaking the flat end of the sword in front of Link.

He looked at her, behind his reflection in the Ordon sword that looked back at him. In response Link grabbed the sword just above Ilias hand and twisted it so that he couldn't see his reflection, but rather the sharp side of the blade. He looked towards Ilias confused expression, with a calm one of his own and said, "You use the pointy part."

"LIIINKK!" she screamed. "You're going to help me. NOW. Got that? Or I'm going to use your pointy stick and chop off your nose. Got that?"

He nodded, hoping that she wouldn't drop the sword, mainly because he had unwisely put the pointy bit in front of his face. Specifically his nose.

"Link." Ilia sighed, moving the blade away from Links face after noticing that he had been worried about getting himself unnecessarily wounded. "I need your help. Will you help me?" she asked, knowing that despite here pervious bravado she wouldn't last very long against the hordes of monsters and bandits that lay beyond the entrance of the village. That she didn't want to see the heartbreak on the faces of the other villagers at seeing their small and fragile community break into pieces moments after it had been rebuilt. "Please." She asked once more, "Will you help me?"

Yes, he nodded his head as the young girl closed her eyes and sighed in relief, feeling a tremendous weight lift off of her shoulders. But then feel it crash upon them once more when he heard him tell her, "but you have to tell Bo first."

She left her friend's house, taking his sword with her and hiding them in the bushes when she was certain that no one was looking. She couldn't tell her dad. It was in her nature to be caring, and to see his heart break. She knew the sight would break her heart as well.

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><p><strong>I hope you like, and if you did so that you'd find the time to do so. But even if you don't, thanks for reading. <strong>

**Next chapter coming up soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Carcass of the Saint.**

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><p><em>It was burning and burning and burning. <em>

_The Master Sword flew into Link, striking him in the chest and pushing him into the wall. Link struggled as much as he could, trying his best to get the sword out of his body before it crushed his chest._

_His Triforce began to glow with a golden light that made everything else seem to vanish until all Link saw was the endless gold of the Triforce of Courage, and all he felt was pain caused by the Master Sword that had run itself through his chest, keeping him trapped, here... at the end._

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><p>Something was wrong. Link got out of bed, glad that he had gone to sleep with his tunic still on. As he had throughout his journey.<p>

Something was definitely wrong.

It was still night but inside his house Link moved around as if it was still filled with the light of day. He got the Master sword that was placed on the side of his bed and placed it within its sheath. Strapping it onto his back as he made his way to his door, opening it as quietly as he could and slowly wandered out of his house.

Whispers, there were whispers. Link ducked down, closed his door and glanced around. He squinted his eyes, trying his best to see what was happening through the blackness of night but failing.

He saw a flash of silver and immediately slid down his ladder as silently as he could, hoping to catch the intruder by surprise, to check if the village was in danger. The person seemed not to notice.

Now that he was closer Link managed to recognise the person in the dim moonlight and sighed lightly in relief. It was Ilia, still carrying the sword that he had given her earlier.

She was near Epona, slowly trying to get the horse to wake up, Link walked forward quietly, hoping to catch her by surprise and attempt to find out what she was doing with Epona at this time of night.

"I'm sorry Link" he heard her say as he drew closer, making sure not to make a single sound as he crept in the shadows at the base of his house. "But I can't tell my dad."

She had gotten Epona up and began to lead her out as Link quickly hid on the opposite side of the large horse. Wondering what he should do to confront the young girl. Primarily because following an attractive young girl from a safe distance in the middle of night would, to an outside viewer appear to be a less than honourable career choice for the young hero. But now that he was here, he couldn't exactly pop up and have her running to town and to tell her sumo wrestling father about how he snuck up on her in the middle of the night.

Swoosh.

Thud.

A flaming arrow flew past the young girl, scratching her forehead in a line of red blood as she screamed "AAAAA" in absolute terror.

Epona whinnied, kicking up her legs and rushing foreword as another arrow flew out of the shadows missing the horse. Ilia screamed "Epona!" in a vain attempt to force the horse to return and help her escape from this sudden attack.

Link who had ducked in an instinctual reaction to the sound of the arrows suddenly realised the Ilia was right in front of him and in danger. He leapt up grabbing the girl from behind and covering her mouth with an arm to get her to shut up whilst the other one wrapped around her waist as he forced himself sideways onto the ground, bringing her down with him.

She screamed, assuming that he was the dark assailant that had come to steal her young innocence, and bit the boy's hand. He gasped as his grip on the girl was released. She rolled out of his grasp as he clutched his hand in pain and frustration, hoping that the wound wasn't too serious.

She fumbled with the sword that Link had given her, eventually raising it up to her attacker and slamming it into his head.

"OW!" whined Link's familiar voice as Ilia stopped in surprise, her mind immediately assuming that this was all some ill timed prank. She squinted her eyes into the darkness to see that it was indeed the young swordsman, and realised that he wasn't seriously hurt by her attack, not realising that she had hit him with the flat end of the sword as opposed to the pointy bit that he had advised her to use earlier in the day.

"LINK!" she screamed like a banshee, letting the boy know just how angry she was at him for scaring her like that.

He shushed her frantically, hoping the assailant who had launched the arrows would not make out their position once more.

"Huh?" she asked the boy, as he shushed her again and motioned for her to get down onto the ground. Ilia began to feel light headed as the blood slowly came out of her body, but managed to follow Link's orders, realising that he wouldn't pull a prank like that.

In the distance they heard Epona let loose what could only be described as a horses scream, as Link realised that no more arrows had struck them after his horse had disappeared. He ran without looking back at Ilia, hoping that he could save his friends life from whatever it was that had attacked her.

Ilia sat down on the ground, as her head slowly became lighter, and the night slowly grew darker the further Link ran away. She placed a hand on her head in an attempt to steady her nerves but felt something warm and wet. Ilia moved her hand down, and in the pale moonlight noticed the sight of her own blood, and upon seeing the red liquid promptly fainted.

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><p>Link ran as fast as he could across the bridge into Faron woods where the sound of Epona seemed to drag him.<p>

Further and further through the woods he ran, in and out of dark caves which he had to try his best to pass through despite the absolute darkness, whilst dodging the vermin that he would occasionally cross.

Eventually the sounds of Epona's hooves in the distance died down, and Link was left cold, in some remote patch of woods in the middle of nowhere as dawn began to break filling what little could be seen of the sky with pastel blues and radiant oranges.

As the rush of the chase died down Link gathered his thoughts and wondered which way he should go to save his trusted horse. He looked around as the realisation dawned on him that he had become hopelessly lost in the woods that he had always been told to avoid at all costs, as stories of people who would get lost and turned into twisted beasts began to penetrate his mind.

The longer Link stood still the more he began to think and wonder why anyone would pull of a night time raid to steal a horse, whilst at the same time trying to kill the horse, he asked himself of what purpose it would serve? All that happened was that he was now lost in the woods and away from the village.

Crap.

Link froze, wondering if he should go to Epona (who was likely dead if the lack of sounds was anything to go by), or to the village that needed him, where he could get the attackers, and if Epona was still alive persuade them with his pointy sword to tell him where she was.

His heart wanted him to go and find his horse. He resolved that it would be wiser to go to the village.

But as he began to move a 'POP' came rang through the desolate wood as the Skull Kid dropped down from the sky and began to giggle, playing his trumpet to call around thirty of his puppets to block off the young boys escape out of the woods.

"You've been very naughty." the child like creature chided, as Link held tightly onto the grip of the Master sword, his body slowly growing warmer as a result.

The Skull Kids grin grew into a menacing smile as he sang "Naughty, naughty, little boy" In his scratchy voice whilst bobbing up and down in mid air, as if he was dancing to a tune that only he could hear.

"Lost in the lost woods. Playing with funny magic. The slaves are coming for you. You bad little puppy. BAD BAD PUPPY!" the creature cackled, rising higher and higher up into the air as the puppets that surrounded Link slowly began to draw closer and closer, ready to snuff him out like the flame of a candle whose use had become irrelevant now that the night had gone. "bad puppy" the Skull kid giggled as the puppets drew closer, "Bad Puppy." He shrieked as Link grip grew tighter and the wooden creatures prepared to strike the young boy "BAD PUPPY!"

"YAH!" Link yelled as he unleashed his sword and performed the great spin, shattering half of the puppets, and sending a further ten reeling backwards. Like a grasshopper he leapt and pressed his attack, shattering five of the puppets in a single stroke and destroying the last ten with three more.

"Aww." The Skull Kid pouted in disappointment. "It's no fun if I don't win." He said as he drew closer to Link who slashed out wildly when the creature was close enough. It giggled as Link glared up at the creature that was stopping him from saving his home. "Well I lost, but don't worry, I can take you to your horsey."

Link gasped in surprise as the edges of his vision slowly grew blurry from the heat that was being generated within his body. The Skull Kid flew off into the distance singing, "The slaves will come, the slaves will come, the slaves will come to _get_ you" as Link chased after it, with a mind too blurry to comprehend what the insane puppet was singing about.

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><p>He reached a sight that would have been familiar to him had his mind not been as clouded as it was, the Sacred Grove. It was silent as the hero walked through, the triangles of his Triforce glowing an intense gold as he moved towards the pedestal, his body moving under the influence of some foreign force as all thought of the Skull Kid and Epona who waited behind himbegan to dissipate the closer he was to the pedestal of the Master Sword. He picked up the sword, his face a mask of grim determination as he stood ready in front of the pedestal. He lifted the sword, and with a defiant scream plunged it into the ground as a Golden light enveloped him.<p>

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><p>In Castle Town a glass on a shelf in Telma's bar fell of unexpectedly and shattered onto the ground. In the Zora River a pebble that was lodged into the base of the river for years became loose and began to role with the eternal currents. Death Mountain roared as the Gorons curled up to protect themselves from the fire that rained down from the sky. In Ordon village the wooden sword that Talo played with snapped in two. In Zelda's Castle a piping hot cup of tea that the princess was drinking suddenly became ice cold.<p>

The Princess still holding he cup sighed, "Something has gone terribly wrong." But as she went to get a new cup of tea couldn't understand what it was _exactly_ that had gone wrong, nor comprehending why she had what she said such things to herself.

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><p><strong>Shorter chapter this time. I actually wrote the first few chapters this about a year back and decided it needed a release, in case someone happened to enjoy it. <strong>

**I'll release the other chapters in time, and whilst I know it isn't the best of quality I'll need some hint that this is read to prompt any continuation beyond the next two chapters. This isn't one of those in need 'x' reviews thing (or at least I'm trying to make sure that it isn't), but there's very little point releasing a piece if no one's gonna read.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Carcass of the Saint.**

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><p>The Skull Kid led Epona back to Ordon village in disappointment, if he had killed Link the terrible things that were about to happen could have been prevented. In the end the intensity of the battle that was taking place inside of the young boy forced him to find a way to <em>encourage <em>Link to get rid of the Master Sword, and so the Skull Kids back up plan had to take effect before the enormous power that was stored in both the Triforce and the Master sword caused much pain upon the face of the world.

Epona whinnied as the Skull kid looked back to the horse. She was wondering what had happened to her owner, but the Skull Kid just told her, "he's some place the neither one of us can reach." Knowing that trying to explain the inherit conflict of the Triforce that wanted to grant Link the request that had been made of it and the Master Sword that was inheritably stable and as a result resisted the attempts of the Triforce, resulting in an exponential build up of magic as the two mystical items collided, which caused the initial use of the Triforce to be skewered from what it was going to allow Link to do on order to fulfil the desire that he had placed onto the object.

"Mortals." He scoffed trying to make sense of his train of thought, "give them magic and they always break something." Worst of all was what was going to happen in the future of the unwitting young boy, a boy who was already pained from the eternal departure of his friend. Or perhaps not so eternal.

Yet in some ironic cosmic way this was always going to happen. He was the guardian of the forest and felt some inherit duty to preserve the lives that would inevitably be lost as a result of the boys actions. He had to bring Link away from the village to prevent further damage. The Skull Kid wanted to play for a little longer as his own personal made up tradition dictated to all who wanted to pass through the woods that he protected. But the power, the endless bounds of energy that would have crumbled the earth if the immovable object that was the Master Sword was allowed to continue to collide with the rampant and unstoppable will of the Triforce of Courage...

It was all a mess, mortals often said that they didn't know the dangers that they were going to unleash through their unwitting actions. It seemed that the young hero would be one more idiot to add to the pile.

It was all a mess, really. One, big, stupid mess.

But the Skull Kid continued to move forward, ready to take the horse home as an apology for dragging her from her owner in the first place after his surprise attack, and perhaps to see if the shrieking banshee of a girl that he had accidentally struck with his arrow wasn't hurt.

Maybe _she'd_ like to play with him sometime.

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><p>"<em>We've long believed that the Hero would appear as a divine beast.<em>"

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><p>The room was dark; a small fire flickered in its centre acting as the only source of illumination as incense slowly filled the room with a thick smoke. An elderly man sat, cross-legged, looking into the light in some distant hope that he would know what it felt like to someday become one with it.<p>

Time stretched and stretched as it reached the point where it would become irrelevant in the isolated universe that the old man created for himself.

Suddenly the flame did something unexpected and vanished. Catching the old man by surprise.

He heard a growl, a deep and distant sound that had reminded him of the one time that he had journeyed to Snowpeak and in a misadventure encountered the strange and vicious beasts the resided there.

Then the candle was lit once more.

A voice whispered in the distance, "He is coming."

The man got ready to leave the smoky room before the voice said in a grave tone, "He is here."

The man was a high priest, and had to tell his lord of this omen... Whatever it meant.

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><p>Link awoke in the Sacred Grove to the sound of birds chirping in the light of the sun. He attempted to get up, feeling absolutely exhausted but failed in the attempt. He looked around to the see the sight of the eternal pillars of the ruined Temple of Time. A familiar sight as he attempted once more to get himself into a sitting position with the cost of feeling his muscles ache with a pain that made his whole body urge him to stop, and his mind to ring with the sound of his heartbeat as his vision slowly began to blur.<p>

He thumped back onto the ground, barely noticing the impact his body made as it made contact with the ground, nor the activity of the many animals that had inhabited the Sacred Grove.

His senses were a blur, distant and unresponsive so he waited there, still and silent, for a span of time that only the heavens could recall as the eternal drumbeat of his heart began to return to a pace that dimmed the abuse that his ears were suffering. His eyes opened as he looked up into the endless caverns of the sky above him, feeling the waves of sunlight wash him in a way he couldn't truly recall feeling before. Yet it was all dimmed by the ache of longing in his heart for something that seemed to be lost to him.

Link turned his head to see the pedestal of the Master Sword empty of the blade; then he reached around to his back to try and feel the grip of the familiar blade.

Empty.

It wasn't there. "Midna" Link whispered in fear as wave after wave of memories smashed the brief piece his mind had constructed. She wasn't here. Crap!

The boy strained himself, in an attempt to get up and onto his feet, his muscles screaming as he let loose a groan of pain and desperation as he recalled fragments of memories that he had lived slowly arrange themselves like an endless tapestry in the violated confines of his mind.

He was up now. He wondered what in the world was going on as the birds stopped chirping, and the sun grew darker, a beast of shadow leapt down, covering the hallowed area in black mist that reminded Link of the Shadow crystals that Zant had used to warp the Twilight realm into his own twisted creation.

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><p>"<em>You know the Twilight realm is actually quite beautiful, Link"<em>

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><p>It wrapped the Sacred Grove in its shadow, forcing all things to flee in fear. Link began to shake at the sight of it, began to feel the stiffness in his legs. His mind willing them to move whilst his legs remained still and silent as the faceless creature of darkness whispered, "You killed my master."<p>

It roared, "My Master!" in agony, then screeched "Die murderer!" as it lifted a black claw out of the dark mist that cloaked its form and lashed it out to the young boy, only to have it pass through him.

What?

Link looked at himself wondering what happened as the beast froze in shock. He recalled Zelda telling him that the Twilight would turn ordinary people into spirits but his Triforce would have.

It was blinking, on and off, on and off. Gold and white. There and gone again. Link looked at it and felt it draw the strength away from him as it reacted to the darkness that surrounded him. Striking him with its remaining power as Link was wrapped up with the familiar feeling of cracking bones and growing hair as he transformed into a wolf. Growling at the monster in front of him in instinct, as he felt a familiar sense of courage slowly return to him.

His senses were sharpened and his mind was flooded with a primal rage that forced his mighty jaws to open and jolt his legs to leap straight into the darkness.

A crack shook Link's body as something swiped him aside like an insect. He slowly got up, looking to see the creature come up to him, its cloak of shadow rolling into him like a deadly mist that would ensnare him for all eternity.

Link growled, as he got onto his feet, slowly walking backwards from the creature, trying to think in the midst of the pain for a weak spot on the creature but ultimately failing as the taste of blood filled his mouth.

The wolf's back brushed up against a wall. Damn. He looked back and then forward as the creature let out a low grumble, deep like the moving of the earth beneath him. Then the growling stopped and the shadows began to fly in all directions, buzzing like an endless swarm of locusts that ensnared the wolf's vision in an endless sea of black.

He howled, but couldn't hear again, he howled again feeling the shadows pummel him over and over and over again from each and every angle.

Light. He needed light.

He felt fear grip him as he looked on the edge of life and from his paw the mark of the Triforce shoot a beam of golden light that cut through the darkness, silencing the shadows and making the beast scream and coil away in fear. Pain filled the horizons of Lnks vision as his body was ripped apart, the light from his paw dimmed and the creature swiped Link aside with a deafening snap.

Then, as he was flying in the air he was engulfed in a bright flash of light.

Bang, his body had vanished, leaving the creature confused as to where the boy who killed his master had gone.

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><p>His body became as light as a feather, invisible like a ghost. Flying high up in the air below him all of creation wrapped in a dance of birth and death and the only thing Link could think of was the ground, which was getting bigger at an increasingly alarming rate.<p>

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><p><strong>Bit shorter, hope my handful of readers enjoy. As I'm coming to the end of the premade chapters.<strong>


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